Throne of Glass
“In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not come to kill him. She has come to win her freedom, If she defeats twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King’s Champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway country will befriend her. But something rotten dwells in the castle, and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying mysteriously, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival-and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world”
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas had me loving, appreciating, and overall marveling at a different avenue of her story-telling repertoire. It was at this moment in time of reading the series that I learned that most people recommend you to read The Assassin’s Blade first (and that it is not a given). I believe it was written as a prologue and not the official first novel of the series. This shocked me as someone who had just started the series. The first novel is so riveting and flows seamlessly into Throne of Glass. However, that is just the original point I’m trying to make. The world building does not thrive on romance and a loosely-built world. Nothing is half done or secondary to relationships between the characters. This is an incredibly political, complex, and ruthless world. The progression of the story has been natural but thrilling when necessary. I look forward to seeing how this story evolves. I have fallen right into Maas’ hands by becoming enthralled with the fate of Celaena Sardothein.